Antonelli leads disrupted Madrid practice as Hamilton and Bearman crash

Red flags disrupt final practice

The third free practice session at the new 5.4-kilometer Madring street circuit faced significant interruptions on Saturday ahead of qualifying. Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton caused a stoppage when he locked up and hit the wall at low speed in the final corner. Hamilton drove a full lap back toward the pit lane with a damaged front wing underneath his car before parking, scattering debris along the track. Race control stopped the session clock with 15 minutes and 38 seconds remaining to allow track marshals to rebuild the damaged Tecpro safety barrier. When running resumed, drivers conducted quick qualifying simulations on soft tires before Haas driver Oliver Bearman crashed heavily into the wall at turn 11, ending the session one minute early without injury to the driver.

Mercedes and Ferrari set the pace

Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli led the final practice timesheets with a lap of 1:32.797. Charles Leclerc finished second for Ferrari, trailing the 20-year-old Italian by roughly 0.15 seconds. McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris followed, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen clocking the fifth-fastest time, just under four tenths of a second off the top pace. The session mirrored Friday's second practice, where Antonelli also set the benchmark at 1:33.662 ahead of Leclerc (1:33.775) and Hamilton (1:33.811). George Russell had previously topped Friday's opening practice session for Mercedes before finishing fifth in FP2.

Demands of the new Madrid circuit

The newly introduced Spanish Grand Prix venue features fast blind corners and 'La Monumental', a banked corner running through a stadium section. The layout drew comparisons to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit due to its high speeds and limited runoff areas. Earlier in the weekend, Formula 2 experienced four crashes during qualifying after a heavy practice collision involving Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, whose car caught fire. In Formula 1, Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad brought out a red flag during Friday's second session after sliding into the barrier following the banked corner. Verstappen addressed the precision required on the new layout.

In some places a small moment can result in a crash. But that is also the case in Jeddah, you have to manage it and leave a margin. On the limit it is easy to make a mistake.

Technical troubles and championship picture

Reigning world champion Lando Norris lost valuable track time on Friday after a gearbox failure prevented him from setting a lap in FP2. Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso also experienced delays during practice because of mechanical issues with his car. High-profile athletes, including David Beckham, Fernando Torres, Thibaut Courtois, and Alejandro Grimaldo, attended the paddock during the running. Heading into Saturday's qualifying and Sunday's 15:00 race, Antonelli leads the drivers' championship with 267 points. His teammate Russell sits second with 201 points, Hamilton holds third with 191 points, and Verstappen occupies sixth place with 127 points.